The Seattle Seahawks appear to not have terminated head coach Pete Carroll or general manager John Schneider yet this offseason. But Seattle must make a change from defensive coordinator Ken Norton, Jr.
If I had a guess, I would say Norton, Jr. is back again with Seattle next year. This means once again the Seahawks will struggle defensively. Throw out the points allowed this season. Seattle was 11th at 21.5. There may not be a more misleading statistic in the history of statistics than points allowed making the Seattle defense seem good this year.
Seattle faced a bunch of backup quarterbacks this year – or quarterbacks struggling in general (there is a reason Ben Roethlisberger is likely to retire after this year) – and those quarterbacks didn’t put up a bunch of points against most teams.
Seattle Seahawks: 3 coaches who should replace Ken Norton, Jr.
Yet, even as the offense improved late in the season (thanks to running back Rashaad Penny), the defense began to give up more points. In the last three games, Seattle allowed 28 points per game, 26th in the NFL over that time.
According to Football Outsiders, the Seahawks defense was 21st in defensive DVOA in 2021. In 2020, Seattle ranked 16th. One way of looking at this is that Seattle’s defenses actually got worse this season.
One reason for this is that Norton, Jr. had an atrocious idea of playing players like Carlos Dunlap and Benson Mayowa more in coverage while not using Jamal Adams as much in pressuring the opposing quarterback. It was an absurd way to run a defense.
Dunlap finally got back to his normal edge rusher position at the end of the season and put up massive numbers (7 sacks over the final four games to go along with 9 quarterback hits and 7 tackles for loss).
Ken Norton, Jr. needs to go. For those saying, “This is Pete’s defense!” It is to some degree but the defense was very good before Norton, Jr. came to Seattle so let’s not say Pete Carroll is suddenly bad now. Norton, Jr. is bad. Here are three coaches who should replace him.
Joe Whitt, Jr.
Dallas did the smart thing the last couple of seasons and made an effort to get better coaches on defense. For several years, the Cowboys won or lost games based on their offense while the defense was mostly not good. One of those hires was to add Joe Whitt, Jr. as the secondary coach and passing game coordinator in 2021. Dallas ranks third in QBR-allowed (76.6) and leads the league in interceptions with 26 (Seattle was 23rd with 11).
Whitt, Jr. has changed teams every season since 2018 when he was with the Green Bay Packers but he has maintained the same position: Secondary coach and passing game coordinator. Nearly every step of the way Whitt, Jr.’s teams have created turnovers. In 2019, his Browns defense was 10th in the league with 14 interceptions.
In the early 2010s, one of the reasons the Seahawks defenses were so dominant was that they created turnovers and got the ball back for the offense. In 2021, Seattle created 18 turnovers, 25th in the NFL. Not only did Seattle allow teams to stay on the field far too long but they couldn’t create errors for the opposing offense and set the Seattle offense in good field position.
Norton, Jr.’s defenses let offenses dictate the style and tempo of play and try to react to that. Good defenses pressure opposing offenses. Whitt, Jr.’s defenses would do this.
Mike Pellegrino
Mike Pellegrino might offer a few things. First, he is 28 years old and will be an NFL coach for a very long time and, if successful with the Seahawks, could take the place of Pete Carroll as head coach. Pellegrino also brings a defensive scheme that would rival the younger offensive-minded coaches of the NFC West.
He would be more creative in stopping Kyler Murray, Sean McVay and company. And Pellegrino will have learned from Bill Belichick on how to scheme for each game, not an overall design that doesn’t change much from week to week.
Pellegrino has been the cornerbacks coach for the Patriots since 2019. New England was second in the NFL in QBR-allowed in 2021 (73.3) and was second in interceptions (23). 10 of those came from CBs. In 2020, the Patriots were third in interception with 18 and was ninth in QBR-allowed. In Pellegrino’s first season (2019), New England led the NFL in interceptions with 25 and 12 of those came from CBs.
While the Patriots have had good players like J.C. Jackson and Stephon Gilmore, those players are made better by the coaching of Pellegrino. Seattle still needs a true shutdown corner, but bringing Pellegrino in as defensive coordinator will make whatever corners are on the Seahawks roster better.
Jim Schwartz
Schwartz did not coach this season but was an advisor for the Tennessee Titans and that helped the Titans go from 24th in the NFL in scoring in 2020 to 6th this year. Tennessee was also 24th in yards-per-play allowed last season (5.9) to 15th in 2021 (5.4). Tennessee’s defensive improvement was a massive reason why the Titans were the number-one seed in the AFC this year.
Schwartz does have experience being a head coach and was just that for the Lions from 2009 through 2013 but he wasn’t successful. However, Schwartz has been a defensive coordinator for 14 years in the league and was last DC in 2020 for the Eagles. Philadelphia was in complete rebuild mode last year so the players Schwartz had to work with weren’t the best.
But Schwartz has a history of being a successful DC. In 2015, the Eagles were 28th in points allowed. Schwartz became DC in 2016 and the Eagles finished 12th in points allowed. From 2017 to 2019, Schwartz run defense finished 7th or better in yards allowed rushing per game (Philadelphia finished first in 2017). The Eagles finished in the teens in yards allowed passing per game in every season Schwartz was the DC except one. This means, opposing offenses had difficulty running and throwing against the Eagles.
From 2017 through 2020, Philadelphia also finished every year in the top half of the league in sacks. So Schwartz’s defenses stopped the run, were good against the pass and put pressure on quarterbacks. Under Norton, Jr., Seattle has struggled to do to most of those consistently. Schwartz would be a good replacement for Norton, Jr. and would help the Seahawks win more games.